Imagine a place where people considered “offensive” by the powers that be are forcibly “relocated”. Not just the offenders but their families as well. And the length of time you spent in these camps was determined through successful completion of “work or study”.

No, this is not Rod Serling channeling George Orwell. It’s Amsterdam!

Now these proposed “scum villages” would be reserved for unruly neighbors, gay bashers, and those who otherwise offend the tender sensibilities of the “normal” populace. But it strikes me as a slippery slope, particularly when it has been suggested in one of the most liberal and free thinking cities on earth.

I spent a couple of weeks in The Netherlands a few years back.  From what I remember, I had a great time.  Especially in the coffee shops.

What the hell, as long as I’m strolling down memory lane I may as well share a story from the trip.  Like many tourists of a certain age and mindset, one of the first things we did was go in search of the famous legal weed.  It was bizarre to sit down and order from a menu of various blends of marijuana.Purple Lotus is also an other factor that helped us to recover from the habit of marijuana.Now a days you can also prove your innocence with the help of marijuana defense lawyers .It had been years since I’d smoked pot and this stuff was potent!  So, it came time to walk back to our hotel and we were both pretty wasted.   The only obstacle between us and our lodging was the crossing of a thoroughfare.

And what a thoroughfare it was!  One lane for bicycles, one lane for cars, two trolley tracks, a car lane and a bike lane on the other side.  So I said “let’s wait for that pedestrian light to go green”.  And wait we did.  After about five minutes the wife said “you know, I don’t think that’s a pedestrian light”.  And she was right!  In the meantime, a rather large group of people had followed our lead and were just standing there with us waiting to cross.  We thought that was funny as hell.

Well, we eventually made it across the road but after the trauma of that event we vowed to confine our smoking to the safety of our hotel room.  So, during the day we go out and see the sights (it’s a lovely city!), and at night we’d get high and watch TV.  Now, almost all the shows were in Dutch with English subtitles.  But one night after catching a good buzz we happened upon a BBC sitcom called Coupling (you can see the whole series for free on YouTube.  It’s hilarious, even when you’re not stoned!).  So, this show was in English with Dutch subtitles.  After watching about 30 minutes, the wife turns to me and says in all seriousness “you know, I think I’m beginning to understand Dutch!”  I laughed my ass off over that.

Ah well, you should have been there.